Four Seconds
by FaithinBones
Summary: While Booth is practicing for recertification of his firearms, after his operation for a brain tumor, an agent watching in the next lane lets Booth know that he is not impressed with Booth's skill with a gun. Four seconds will make him change his mind.


Jenny1701 Prompt: After his brain tumor Booth had to recertify as a marksman - there was an agent at the firing range who was so scathing of his abilities - I'd love to see him get to realize/see just how good Booth actually is.

Sounds like a good story idea. I hope you do too.

This story takes place during "The Dwarf in the Dirt" and after "The Proof in the Pudding".

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Agent Ted Carson was standing in the next lane practicing his shooting, when he thought he recognized Booth, "Hey Booth, right? You're a legendary shot man. I'm Carson."

Irritated, Booth looked down the lane at his paper target, "I'm concentrating."

Pushing the button to retrieve his target, Booth was unhappy to see the results of his latest practice shots moving towards him.

Watching the target moving towards them, Agent Carson continued, "I heard you could shoot a hole through the middle of a dime on the run." Studying the target as it got closer, Carson smirked, "Excuse me. I obviously got the wrong guy."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

Special Agent Carson had stopped by his bank on the way home to cash his oldest son's birthday check. His son had received a check for sixty dollars from his grandparents in honor of his tenth birthday and Ted Jr. wanted to cash it so he could buy a new game for his Wii System. Agent Carson had just cashed the check and was walking across the lobby of the bank when three gunmen walked in through the main entrance brandishing assault rifles.

Sighing, Carson had immediately plunged his hand in to his pocket and dialed 911. As the gunmen pointed their rifles at him, he withdrew his hand slowly and put his hands in the air showing them to be empty. The gunmen screaming for everyone to get onto the floor and lie still, Carson complied with the hold up men's orders. He knew his one handgun was no match for three assault rifles.

While one gunman held his rifle on the customers lying on the floor in the lobby the other two gunmen walked around the counters and held their guns on the bank clerks and branch manager as they emptied their tills. As the tills were being emptied, the sounds of sirens could be heard faintly coming from the distance. Furious that they didn't have the time they'd counted on, the gunmen started to leave the building when two patrol cars entered the parking lot. Realizing that they were trapped the gunmen ran back into the building and closed the door behind them.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

Booth arrived to find the bank building surrounded by police cars and other emergency vehicles. Carrying his rifle, Booth walked over to the command van and knocked on the closed door.

Opening the door, Agent Franco found Booth standing in front of the van door, watching the bank main entrance. Stepping out of the van, Franco shook Booth's hand. "Come into the van, I have the bank layout and I think you're going to be pleased with what you see."

Nodding his head, Booth followed Agent Franco into the van. Following Franco over to a long table on the right side of the van, Franco pointed to the blueprints for the bank located across the parking lot from the van.

"This is one of the older buildings in the neighborhood. As you can see the bank building has four floors. The bank occupies the bottom floor and the second floor. Floors three and four are occupied by a law firm. The law firm is allied with the bank. You can access the four floors from the lobby elevator and from the freight elevator in the back of the building. The freight elevator opens up on a small lobby on each floor and contains a door that allows access to a hallway on each floor. Each door has an electronic key pad."

Pointing at the freight elevator on the blueprint, Franco continued, "We evacuated everyone from the second, third and fourth floor. The only people in the building right now are the customers and bank employees on the first floor and several police officers and FBI agents in the freight elevator lobbies on the second, third and fourth floor. We also have the back door open on the first floor and several agents situated in the ground floor freight elevator lobby. The only way those holdup men can leave this building is through the front door and the back door. If they try to use the freight elevators or try to use the back entrance, they'll find themselves facing armed agents."

Nodding his head, Booth asked, "Have they made any demands yet?"

Smirking, Franco replied, "The usual, a car, a helicopter, etc. etc. They really think they can just walk away from this."

Shrugging his shoulders, Booth commented, "Most criminals are too stupid to live I guess. Do you have a way for me to get a shot at them?"

Nodding his head, Franco replied, "Yep, you'll love it."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooo

Walking around the bank building with his rifle in his hand, Booth along with Franco entered the back of the building and walked into the freight elevator lobby. Moving into the freight elevator, Franco removed a key from around his neck and inserted it into a key slot labeled "2". Turning the key, Franco and Booth watched the back wall of the elevator slide to the left and reveal another lobby. Once they exited the elevator the door slid shut.

Pointing to the door next to the elevator, Franco opened the door and Booth followed him up the stairs to a landing on the second floor. Walking over to the only door on the landing, Franco opened the door and turned left down the dimly lit hallway. Arriving at the end of the short hallway, Franco opened the door at the end of the hallway and entered the room. Leaving the door open, Booth followed Franco into the room. The dim light from the hallway barely lightened the room they now found themselves in. Booth, using the light available, wove around some furniture and walked over to the far wall. Once he was in front of the vent, Booth lifted his hand and Franco closed the door, plunging the room into almost total darkness. The only light coming into the room came from the very large vent Booth was standing in front of.

Looking through the vent, Booth found himself with a perfect view of the bank lobby below. Seeing two of the gunmen, Booth decided to wait until all three were within his sight. Franco, watching Booth's outline in front of the vent, knew it might be awhile before Booth would be able to do his job. He was prepared to wait for as long as it would take. So was Booth.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

The gunmen were starting to show signs of extreme agitation. The negotiator wasn't giving them what they wanted and they weren't sure how to make her do it. They'd already threatened to kill the customers one by one; but, they hadn't been clear when they would start shooting. Two of the holdup men didn't want to go down for murder. The third gunmen, being a two time loser, felt that he didn't have a lot to lose.

Deciding that they needed to come up with another plan, the man guarding the hallway that led to the back freight elevator, stepped away from the hallway and walked a short way into the lobby. The other two gunmen met with their friend and started arguing about whether to shoot a hostage to show how serious they were. Hearing the shouting from the gunmen, everyone in the lobby knew that if something didn't happen soon, one of them would die. Booth overhearing the shouting match, knew he had little choice.

Once Booth was certain that all three men were in his optimal sight, he slipped the front end of his rifle barrel through the vent and squeezed off three shots. All three gunmen died within a four second time period.

Pulling the barrel of his rifle from the vent, Booth heard a lot of screaming coming from the customers and bank employees below him. Franco, opening the door, waited for Booth to arrive and then proceeded down the hallway back to the stair case. Jogging down the stair case, Franco waited for Booth to catch up and then inserted his key into the key slot next to the freight elevator door and turned it. Watching the elevator door slide open, Franco pointed over his shoulder. "Only bank employees know about the counting room on this floor and the Wellness room upstairs."

Nodding his head, Booth waited for the elevator door to finish sliding open and then walked through into the elevator. Walking across the elevator, Booth pushed the open button and watched the front elevator door slide open.

Exiting the elevator, Booth walked across the lobby and then through the back door. Walking back around the bank, Booth walked over to the command van and waited for Franco to catch up with him.

Noticing activity at the main entrance to the bank, Booth watched as the customers and the bank employees left the building with their hands over their heads. Once they were sure that the hostages were out of the building, several FBI agents swarmed into the building to check on the dead holdup men.

Agent Carson, noticing the command van across the parking lot, walked over to the van to check in and give a statement. As he approached the van, Carson noticed the agent that he'd seen at the target range six weeks earlier. Puzzled, Carson saw the agent holding a rifle in his hands.

Smirking, Carson quipped, "Well, you won't be needing that cowboy. Someone beat you to it and took those scumbags out."

Shaking his head, Booth walked away towards his SUV. Franco arriving just in time to hear Carson's scathing words, scratched his head and turned to Carson, "You do know who you just blew off don't you?"

Puzzled, Carson shook his head, "I saw him on the practice range six weeks ago. Who ever he is, he's a terrible shot."

Laughing, Franco shook his head, "A bad shot huh? Agent Booth just shot three armed gunmen in four seconds killing all three of them. Right in front of your eyes I might add."

Feeling his face turn hot with embarrassment, Carson stared after Booth, "You mean that guy really is Seeley Booth?"

Watching Booth open the back of his truck to put his rifle up, Franco replied, "He sure as hell is. You owe your life to his ability as a sniper."

Exhaling deeply, Carson shook his head, "I swear when I saw him at the shooting range he was missing shots like you wouldn't believe."

Shrugging his shoulders, Franco replied, "Obviously he was yanking your chain."

Feeling like a fool, Carson shook his head, "Damn, he must think I'm a total waste of space."

Smiling, Franco watched Booth close the back of his truck and enter the drivers side of the truck. "Knowing Booth, he doesn't think anything about you at all."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

So what do you think of my little story? Reviews are appreciated. Thanks.


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